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Found burial flag reunited with family of fallen WWII veteran

Posted at 6:44 PM, Jan 26, 2019
and last updated 2019-01-26 20:46:09-05

NAMPA, Idaho — Earlier this month, we brought you the story about a burial flag, discovered while cleaning out a Nampa home.

Thanks to all of your effort, today it was returned to the people it's meant to comfort: the family of a WWII veteran.

The flag, once belonging to an "Argo Buchanan" became the center of a search effort started by veteran David Slawson Sr.

"It is our firm desire to have this flag which we consider very special and sacred to be returned to the family it rightfully belongs to," Slawson said.

Slawson found the flag while cleaning out a home in Nampa. He immediately knew how special the flag was, so he cleaned and restored it himself. All he had was a name, but he was determined to find the rightful owners of the flag. After hearing the story, Funderal Director Scott Glover recognized his chapel's name adorning the casing of the flag and got to work.

"Fred Buchanan's wife's obituary and I just crossed referenced the majority of the names in there to try and see if somebody on Facebook would respond back," Glover said.

The search lead to a few very grateful granddaughters who were able to connect Argo and his sister Luann Sue back with their missing treasure.

"He would do fun little things, like my brother was remembering he would sing on the halls to Montezuma and wake us up in the morning like reveille, reveille, all hands on deck," Luann Sue said.

The family's house quickly filled with veterans and the Honor Guard for a flag ceremony, so the family could finally regain the last piece of their father's legacy.

"My brother had just broke his ankle and I had hurt my knee and then we found out about the flag the day after that and we thought, 'oh that's dad, he's here to tell us hang in there.' We're a strong family," Luann Sue said.

6 On Your Side reached out to Mr. Slawson, who found and restored the flag, to see if he wanted to comment on the final outcome of his labors. His answer? There's nothing left for him to say, now that the flag is back to it's rightful owners.